1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus for cleaning a nozzle of welding gun. In particular, the invention relates to a system for removing the spatter that can accumulate on the nozzle of a weld gun.
2. Description of the Related Art
Weld guns for use in gas metal arc welding are known in the art. Typically, the weld gun will include a nozzle at the welding end of the gun, where a consumable wire electrode is fed through the gun and the nozzle to the location where welding is desired. Additionally, shielding gas is fed through the weld gun and the nozzle at the location of the welding. The shielding gas operates to shield the weld location from outside contaminants. During the welding process, an electrical arc is formed between the wire electrode and the workpiece metal or metals, causing the metal or metals to weld and join the metals together.
During the welding process, when the arc is formed between the consumable electrode and the workpiece metal, the electrode can create weld spatter that will adhere to the surface of the nozzle, in particular the interior surface of the nozzle, which is undesirable. Spatter build up can affect the usability of the weld gun, decreasing the quality of the weld. Accordingly, it is necessary to clean the spatter from the weld gun nozzle during the welding process.
One method of cleaning of the nozzle is to manually chip away the spatter by scraping with a hand held cleaning tool or other device capable of scraping away spatter from the inside of the nozzle. However, this method is time consuming and inconsistent. Weld gun operators will often choose to disconnect the weld gun prior to cleaning, leading to delays in the welding process caused by disconnecting and reconnecting the weld gun to the system. Also, the operator may choose to wait for the nozzle to cool down prior to using the manual tool to avoid burning their hands. This also adds delays to the process.
Other cleaning solutions have been proposed that include a rotating cutting device that can be inserted into the weld nozzle. The rotating cutting device must be aligned with the interior of the nozzle so that the cutting surfaces of the cutter will fit snugly into the nozzle. Alignment of the nozzle with the axis of rotation of the cutter can be difficult, and misalignment can lead to damaging the cutter or the nozzle itself, resulting on costly replacement and further delays in the welding process.
One type of prior cleaning solutions includes the use of rollers mounted to an insertion housing. The rollers are generally circular and positioned on multiple sides of the path of insertion for the nozzle. However, these rollers can be insufficient to properly align the nozzle with the axis of rotation of the cutter due to the round nature of the roller, leading to the nozzle being inserted at an undesirable angle toward the cutter. In some cases multiple rollers have been arranged along the path, but the nozzle may still be inserted at an undesirable angle.
According, improvements can be made for cleaning the nozzles of a weld gun.